Minor Transactions: 06/19/16
Here is where we’ll keep track of today’s minor transactions, updating as they happen.
- The Anaheim Ducks have re-signed former fourth round pick and pending RFA Andrew O’Brien according to General Fanager. The contract is a two-way deal, earning O’Brien $632,500 in the NHL, and $62,500 in the AHL. The 23-year old defenseman put up 14 points for the San Diego Gulls last season.
Ducks Re-Sign Sami Vatanen
Sunday 9:02 AM CST: According to Cap Friendly, Vatanen’s deal comes with a modified-NTC in years three and four. The Ducks’ blueliner will submit a 12-team list which he can be traded to. For more information on how no-trade and no-movement clauses work, check out Pro Hockey Rumors’ handy primer.
Saturday 11:35 AM CST: According to the Anaheim Ducks website, the team has re-signed defenseman Sami Vatanen to a four-year deal. The 25-year-old defenseman previously made $1.275MM and was due for a hefty raise. Though the team didn’t release financial details, Eric Stephens reports that it is a 4-year, $19.5MM deal.
The contract is broken down as owing Vatanen $5MM through the 2018-2019 season. In the final year of the deal, Vatanen will earn $4.5MM. CapFriendly indicates that the cap hit will be $4.875MM. With the signing, the Ducks estimated cap room drops to $13,232,500.
Vatanen has been a key component on the Ducks blueline. He notched 38 points in 2015-2016, having 38 points (9-29), while having 4 points (1-3) in 7 playoff games.The deal make Vatanen the highest paid d-man on the team, and also inks another young blueliner to an already strong core. General manager Bob Murray is far from done, with a host of RFA’s, namely Brandon Pirri, Hampus Lindholm and Frederik Andersen, still awaiting contracts.
Free Agent Focus: Anaheim Ducks
After a disappointing first round exit that cost head coach Bruce Boudreau his job, the Anaheim Ducks will be looking to get back to Stanley Cup contention in 2016-17, and take the division crown for the fifth consecutive season. While their ‘big-3’ up front, Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry and Ryan Kesler, are locked up long term, the team has quite a few young players looking for raises as they hit restricted free agency. Here’s a look at their upcoming offseason:
Key Restricted Free Agent: D Hampus Lindholm – While you could pick from a handful of names for the Ducks’ key RFA this summer, Lindholm represents the most important out of all of them. After being selected 6th overall by Anaheim in the 2012 draft, Lindholm has continued to improve on his defensive ability, reaching all new heights this season. While his usual excellent +/- numbers dipped slightly due to playing against tougher competition, he logged 22 minutes a night leading one of the youngest and most effective blue lines in the league.
His possession metrics are unbelievable, coming fourth in the league in CF% (a measure of puck possession based on shots for and against) only behind the excellent Los Angeles group. Lindholm improved the possession numbers of every single teammate he played with, providing Lidstrom-like efficiency on the back end. While he may never put up Karlsson or Burns type offensive numbers, his value is certainly felt by his teammates and front office.
Coming off his entry level contract and still only 22, Lindholm could get a long-term extension similar to the one Morgan Rielly received last month from Toronto. The Maple Leaf defender signed a six-year $30MM dollar deal to stay in Toronto, giving away two of his UFA years to lock in the higher value now.
Other RFAs: G Frederik Andersen, D Sami Vatanen, C Rickard Rakell, W Brandon Pirri
Key Unrestricted Free Agent: LW Jamie McGinn – When the Ducks acquired Jamie McGinn from the Sabres in late February of this year, they thought they were getting a nice two-way player who could chip in a few goals for them down the stretch. What they got was 8 goals and 12 points in 21 games, landing him career highs in both categories and putting him back in the valued 20-goal club.
As he hits free agency this year he arrives with the fifth most goals available on the open market, ahead of players expected to get big deals like David Backes and Milan Lucic. While his point totals aren’t as high, his relative youth – McGinn won’t turn 28 until August 5th – and solid goal scoring ability should land him a multi-year deal somewhere. Whether the Ducks can give him that isn’t quite clear.
With Lindholm, Andersen, Vatanen and Rakell all needing deals, the Ducks may just let McGinn walk away if he gets too pricey. After earning $2.95MM over the last two seasons he’ll be looking for a deal close to $4MM for at least three seasons.
Other UFAs: W David Perron, W Chris Stewart, C Shawn Horcoff, C Mike Santorelli, D Korbinian Holzer,
Projected Cap Space: $18.1MM, 15 players under contract.
The Ducks have a fair bit to worry about over the next year, as they are at risk of losing one of their good young defencemen in next year’s expansion draft. With Kevin Bieksa requiring protection due to his NMC, three of Lindholm, Vatanen, Cam Fowler, Josh Manson and Simon Despres will be left exposed as it currently stands. While there is no clear way to get around this without crippling your blueline, the team may choose to deal the more valuable pieces before the draft next season. For now, their focus will be on getting them under contract.
Anaheim Officially Names Randy Carlyle Head Coach
TUESDAY 11:32 AM CST: Chris Johnston of Sportsnet reports that Carlyle will be keeping assistants Paul MacLean and Trent Yawney on with him in Anaheim.
11:17 AM CST: The Ducks have officially announced the hiring.
Late Monday night, word broke that the Anaheim Ducks are set to name Randy Carlyle as their new head coach. ESPN’s John Buccigross was first with the report while TSN’s Darren Dreger added that the hiring should made official on Tuesday.
The hiring comes as somewhat of a surprise considering the Ducks fired Carlyle as their bench boss in the 2011-12 season. They replaced him with Bruce Boudreau and now, have replaced Boudreau (who since has joined the Minnesota Wild as their new head coach) with Carlyle.
The 60 year old Carlyle last coached in the 2014-15 campaign with the Toronto Maple Leafs where he spent parts of four seasons with the team. While there, he led Toronto to their only playoff berth in the past ten years back in 2012-13 where they lost to Boston in the first round.
Carlyle had previously been with Anaheim from 2005 up until his firing in 2011. His teams posted a winning record in every season but his last one and won nine playoff series including a Stanley Cup victory in 2007. Overall, his record behind the Ducks’ bench is 317-208-71.
Still, the decision has caught many by surprise as several key Anaheim veterans had reportedly grown to be frustrated with Carlyle’s coaching style and some of those players are still there. There are also those that are of the mindset that his system is a bit outdated for the more modern NHL.
However, GM Bob Murray appears to be looking for less of a player-friendly coach after Boudreau and is certainly familiar with Carlyle having been with Anaheim during his first stint as coach.
Re-hirings don’t happen too often in the NHL (Michel Therrien in Montreal and Paul Maurice years ago in Carolina are somewhat recent exceptions) so it will certainly be interesting to see how Carlyle’s second go-around with the Ducks plays out.
Anaheim Ducks Nate Thompson Out With Long-term Injury
Anaheim Ducks manager Bob Murray announced Tuesday that Nate Thompson tore his achilles while working out during the off-season. He is expected to miss most of next season, and a return before the trade deadline looks unlikely.
This is Thompson’s second major injury in two seasons. Thompson missed the first 26 games last season with a torn labrum. He scored 3G and 6P during the rest of the season and potted 2G in the Ducks’ first round loss to the Nashville Predators. He was used mainly as a grinding fourth-line forward.